A message from al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri to his second in command in Yemen told him to "do something," causing U.S. and Yemeni officials to fear imminent terrorist action, CNN has learned.

For weeks, U.S. and Yemeni officials watched a rising stream of intelligence about the possibility of a major terrorist attack in Yemen but grew increasingly alarmed after intercepting a message within the past several days said to be from al-Zawahiri, who is believed to be in Pakistan. The message was sent to Nasir al-Wuhayshi, the leader of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the terror group's Yemeni affiliate. U.S. intelligence believes al-Wuhayshi has recently been appointed the overall terror organization's No. 2 leader.

U.S. officials cautioned that there may be multiple sources of intelligence including intercepts of electronic information from phone calls, web postings, but also interrogation of couriers or other operatives.

CNN had the information over the weekend and decided not to report the details about al-Zawahiri's involvement based on U.S. government concerns about the sensitivity of the information. Now that it has been widely reported in other media, including the New York Times and McClatchy, CNN has now decided to report it as well.

The United States has heightened its security stance by issuing a worldwide travel alert and closing a number of embassies and consulates over a large area of the Middle East and Africa this week.

The White House said the substantial security steps reflect an "abundance of caution" over intelligence information that indicated final planning by al Qaeda in Yemen for possible terrorist attacks on Western targets to coincide with the end of Ramadan this week.

The intercepted message further intensified concerns already heightened by increased terrorist chatter detected by intelligence agencies, as well as a series of prison breaks that freed al Qaeda figures.

A senior official with Iraq's interior ministry told CNN on condition of not being identified that top officials of al Qaeda in Iraq, including Adnan Ismail Najim Abdullah al-Dulaimi, escaped from Abu Ghraib prison during a jailbreak there last month and remain at large.

Yemen is an area of particular concern.

Three sources said the United States has information that members of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula are in the final stages of planning for an unspecified attack.

White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters on Monday that U.S. anti-terrorism efforts had decimated al Qaeda's global leadership and greatly diminished its core in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region. But the threat still posed "has shifted to some of these affiliates, in particular AQAP."

Over the weekend, Interpol warned that al Qaeda has been tied to the prison breaks on July 23 in Iraq, on July 26 in Libya and four days later in Pakistan.

Separately, American special forces units overseas have been on alert for the past several days for a mission to attack potential al Qaeda targets if those behind the most recent terror threats against U.S. interests can be identified, a senior Obama administration official told CNN.

The official declined to identify the units or their locations because of the sensitive nature of the information.

The units, along with several others, were put on heightened alert by Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel last week.

Ok, I think I have figured out al Qaeda's plan. They will threaten an attack, then fail to carry it out, then plan another attack and fail to carry it out, then plan another attack and so on and so on until we get complacent, then they will actually succeed to carry one out and surprise us all wth their determination. Like MJ said, "I have failed over and over and over again and that is why I succeed." This proves it; they are Michael Jordan fans!

My god what twelve year olds are writing these articles these days?
I'm sorry if I'm insulting you but if you are going to at least nominally claim to run a news service can you not hire people who are capable of addressing spelling and punctuation issues, and pay attention to their sentence structure? After all, these are important stories and should not be written by such rank amateurs! It takes away from the actual content of the story.

To answer your very apt question. Obviously the "who" that are writing these responses are the typically poorly educated, deluded, and cognitively dysfunctional morons and dolts that comprise the large majority of the Generation-Y, so called "Millennials".

THE GOV PUTS AMERICANS IN JAIL BY TAKING ALL OF THERE MONEY AFTER THE PUT THEM IN JAIL AFTER BRAINWASHING ONE OF THEIR RELITIVES TO CALL THE CIA SO THE DUMB RELITIVE CALLS OUT OF CURIOUSITY THEN TURNS AROUND AND CALLS 911 BECAUSE THE GOV HAS BRAINWASHED THEM INTO DOING SO THUS THE CITIZEN GETS CHARGED WITH A IMAGINARY CRIME PUT IN JAIL THE PUT ON PROBATION TO BE WATCHED VERY VERY VERY VERY CLOSELY WHY BECAUSE OBAMA IS A NIGG

If anyone was wondering about the general intelligence of people on the far right - the post above that starts this thread is as good as it gets. Devoid of anything resembling the english language and impossible to decipher. Illogical, start to finish.

Nice far right garbage response. First of all, you're clearly a Birther, which means you have the IQ of a piece of wood. The Muslim reference is baseless, but par for the course if you rely on the likes of Beck, Hannity and Limbaugh for your "information." Healthcare? No one could use it more than people like you, that is apparent. Illegals? You act as if the problem simply popped up on January 20, 2009. Besides, an immigration bill has passed the Senate and is now at the mercy of the tea-ba99ers in the House where Boehner is as weak as it gets. Unless they include a repeal of the Affordable Care Act in every piece of legislation - it doesn't get passed out of the House.

The govt WANTS a terrorist attack! They are all but BEGGING for one. Why? Well because right now they "need" an attack to justify the ridiculous privacy invading NSA. I'll bet they've made up the whole "we intercepted a message" in order to put pressure on the terrorists to act. They probably aided in those jailbreaks hoping for something to happen. Wake up! The govt IS corrupt and will stop at nothing to turn us into a country of compliant sheep complete with martial law. Obamas condescending "we aren't listening to your phone calls" is a lie. They ARE! And not because of terrorism, because they seek to dominate every aspect of our lives. Forget terrorists, the real threat is right here at home!

What the NSA is doing IS criminal. Whether or not a person has committed a crime doesn't matter anymore, the NSA is already treating everyone as guilty.

August 6, 2013 at 1:00 am |

Skarphace

If what the NSA was doing now is criminal, then how come Congress (both Dems and Repubs) just confirmed the NSA's right to gather this info? Congress makes the laws, right?

August 6, 2013 at 1:04 am |

BeepBopZipZop

The fact that the law exists doesn't automatically make it just. What if tomorrow Congress passes a law that says if you live 20 minutes from work you cannot legally drive there. instead you have to bike, walk or public transit there, just something overly ridiculous. Being a law doesn't make it any less idiotic. America was founded by criminals if you've forgotten.

August 6, 2013 at 1:18 am |

k_Daraa

YOU need to diversify. If YOU gathered information from foreign sources publishing more information about those jail-breaks, YOU might believe less in an American government conspiracy "THEY" theory, and more on blaming murderous sunni takfiri extremists for direct (desperate) action to replenish their ranks.

Ha ha ha. This is what happens after decades of unjust foreign policy. Anything at all, anything, and out of 'abundance of caution' the US has to go into self-protection overdrive. Imagine the amount of money and energy and time spent on these things, diplomacy suspended, Americans disliked in most parts of the world, now even their economy has begun to desert them. All for what. Actually, here the Al Qaeda head was complaining to his deputy about his cook, who the latter had procured for him. Zawahari was so fed up of the cook that he was pleading to his deputy to 'do something'. The Americans, of course, picked up this chatter and went into self-preservation mode. My advice to the US government is to look at the Scandinavian countries, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland, Germany, and learn from them. The world respects these countries and admire them. They are prosperous too.

that's wut u would think right?? that they stay up during the day time not eating or drinking water...but nope...they pretty much switch their stupid sleeping pattern. they close most of the stores during the daytime, food, malls even 7/11 type of stores and they just open up after 6 pm and stay up...so in relazity most of them are not staying awake during the daytime hour thus fasting...i am not impresed by their BS...i live in bahrain i see it daily...

You must be one of those communist Indian or a converted Muslim from a spineless country like India. Where Pakistan is terrorizing you all the time despite your deep love for them. You are trying to earn the heart and mind of Pakistan when they are terrorizing you with your loving all foreign policy,

Really? How many terrorist attacks have been successfully carried out on American soil in the last decade as compared to most other countries? Sure, we have our internal problems due to drugs, gangs, and a rampant gun culture, but al Qaeda has only been successful attacking our foreign interests since 9/11.

Remember, it's Ramadan and the middle of the summer so these guys are sitting around from sun-up to to sunset without being allowed to eat, drink, smoke or even chew a piece of chewing gum. By the end of the day they they are hungry, thirsty, angry and fantacizing about food and drink. Is it any surprise there are calls going back and forth to 'punish someone, anyone', for their misery? Come on, I thought they had better 'intelligence' of an attack than this? I have heard many conspiracy theorists saying this is a 'false flag' operation to deflect attention from everything from Benghazi to the NSA scandal, I am really starting to wonder if this isn't true.

So his number 2 is either scared of doing something or unable to do anything. Yep they sound scary. Let's spend a few trillion more defending ourselves against these idiots. They say jump and we say how many billion! They are practically calling the shots in our defense department!!!!

True. It would have been so much better with Romney who would have American troops in Syria and Egypt by now, as well as back in Iraq. Who cares about al Qaeda when we have Americans dying in multiple wars once again.

Somebody needs to get the Plouffer involved in this...How can you tell the Plouffer? He is the one with the dirty knees!
He would help, but right now he is helping Anthony Wiener with his campaign. Slogan to sound like this..."BOING!!!"

Uh, if you think Plouffe is bad, get a load of the reaction that Reience Priebus gets from anyone other than the far right. He's the Democrats best friend, and now wants to complain about a TV show about Hiillary? If he had any decent candidates, he wouldn't be so paranoid. He doesn't.

"At this point, what difference does it really make?" Hahahahahahahahahahaha!

August 6, 2013 at 12:26 am |

the blame game: a simple solution

ok so we have only 2 real interests in the middle east:.1)Protecting Israel and 2)cheep crude oil. Well we already gave Israel the keys to some Nukes, now all we need to do is eliminate consumption of foreign oil. So what I propose is this: Instead of wasting all that time energy and taxpayer money on bombs, spreading democracy and all that jazz...uncle Sam can buy us Tesla vehicles... Yes the electric cars of the future that are here now! I suppose we could still drop bombs for a little while on our enemies... But what kind of bombs you ask...car bombs. we just gas up the vehicles one last time and drop them in....enter your favorite enemy country here...they explode on impact...

I guess I've been blocked from leaving a comment on news stories as there wasn't any comment box. How outspoken I've always been, it doesn't surprise me. Sorry I'm using your comment so I can leave my own, although I do agree with you.
My beaf as always is with CNN. On Reuters, one of the main stories,( and it was the main story earlier today) was about "U.S. directs agents to cover up use of wiretaps" but of course you can find NOTHING about it here. Once again, the government in mainstream media pocket. I only come on to CNN' site for a laugh and over disgust. Readers are not getting the news, but rather cable entertainment news..Read Reuters or Al Jazerra for real in depth reporting. Also look for independent news sources because CNN and all the other MSM outlets have become a joke.

Don't be so blind., they all have their price, and they all push the propaganda of the highest bidder.

August 6, 2013 at 12:51 am |

pat

I'm with you Tyrone...too bad most of Obama's sheep want to be friends with the Muzzies! Remember the movie – Mars Attacks? It that simple...yet the Minions what to make it something else! Benghazi never happened...just ask Carney! Ft. Hood was just work place violence. Homeland Security buying up all the ammo! What for? Our enemies are on the run! Who they need to shoot? The Mexicans? The Polka Band from Milwaukee? WHO? Erkel and his gang are running the show!

The Al Queda Navy is planning a beach invasion of the Jersey Shore as we speak. And the Al Queda Air Force will provide air cover. Buy more guns!! Buy more ammo !!!! It won't help but you can suck on the barrel like a pacifier until you calm down.

you fools dont realise it s an false flag operation is taking place, I owner of the CNN network have said in the past that depopulation is a must in this world and wars are the only option where wars are funded by my corporates elites brotherhood

I'm a terrorist and I, in the simplest and cheapest way possible, make Americans spend millions of dollars. So, I call over my terror buddies, and say "dudes, watch this." I type in "Do Something," and *poof* embassies all over the world are in lockdown. "Ha ha, good one Ayman!"

Or maybe the NSA wants to scare us again, so that we will once again think it is OK they are snagging pictures from our little girls' facebook pages.

Oh my! The sky is falling !!! Please spend more billions on the NSA spy program. And spend even more billions on aircraft carriers and fighter jets to protect us from the bearded towel heads. None of these things will save us but we'll feel much better knowing that global corporations are milking our fear for every dime they can squeeze out of us.

Looking at the big picture, this is madness. AQ is seeking revenge because we killed one of its leaders. We have been killing various "leaders" and accidentally killing a few innocents along the way for over a decade, creating Martyrs and recruiting more eager terrorists to fill their spots. 9/11 was a response to our attacks on an AQ camp, those attacks were a response to AQ attacks on our embassies, the embassy attacks were a result of our going back on a promise to not occupy Holy lands in the Middle East after Gulf I, and on it continues to this day, with no end in site. It's an endless cycle that neither side has the balls to end. My oldest kid was a few months old on 9/11 and, the way things are going, this war will still be going strong when she's old enough to be dragged into it.

Jeff, while I commend your effort to "understand the other side's POV," your error is in assuming they are sane. Do u really think if we just stopped killing their fellow terrorists they'd leave America alone? Really?!

All too sad and true, Jeff. So much violence amounts to self perpetuating cycles. I wonder when people will stop, as they finally did in Ireland, and realize that we are all human beings, more alike than different.

Osama bin Laden was very clear. Pull US troops out of Saudi Arabia, and establish a Palestinian state, then we're all good. He also said his aim was to force the US into a long war that financially bled us dry. Seems like he accomplished what he intended.

Actually "brown" my family and I are doing just fine and will continue to. we aren't one of the ultra rich or even just rich but things are definitely getting better. sorry we don't hold to your preconceived notions.

Give it time....You will feel the pinch very soon....Unless your one of those on welfare or one who got exempted from all the hardshoip like some states and friend of the prez did? hmm?

August 6, 2013 at 12:13 am |

Rick

We don't like hearing the truth. It doesn't do much good anyway, it's too difficult to get through the apathy. Despite the fact that more and more of the wealth goes to the few "on top", many (I didn't say all) of the "deprived" 99% have it pretty "good" (flat screen TVs, boats, second homes, gas sucking SUV's, etc). Good enough to keep the inequity going and allow the rich to flourish by skimming off the middle class. Kinda weird, we all know what's going on and we continue to let it happen.
Oh sorry, concerning this article...how can I possibly believe what they are saying is true. I believe CNN is reporting what they are being fed accurately, but what the government is saying is hardly the truth. It is very convenient to have this come out with Ed Snowden just having received asylum, too much so for me. I don't appreciate being lied to.

I am perfectly ok with our government invading the privacy of foreign nationals if that kills more bad guys, or saves American lives. I am still not ok with our government spying on us for no reason (even if they have a really good reason, they still need a warrant).

I'm sure other posters have spotted the obvious contradiction. The NSA, CIA, fusion centers have spent untold billions on an all seeing 1984 George Orwell security state that listens to every call in the world. It shows that their system has failed if they can tell us, "The Sky is Falling, Beware of an impending attack", but they can't tell us where, when, what type and so on. Just maybe those billions of phone calls, emails, and numerous other types of messages they suck up every day has created a huge mountain of chaff and it makes it impossible to find the needles (terrorists) until too late.

If this was kept a secret and a terrorists attack occurred, everyone would say why weren't we told, why were we not warned. When there is a chance of something happening and people are warned they still have sarcastic comments, so no matter who is president they cannot win no matter what./

Exactly. People always seem have the right answers and perspective in hindsight. I can't believe the amount of dumb people who don't understand that just because an approach comes up with one good or one bad result (no matter how high-profile), that it's the only right or wrong approach.

The republican response: Why are we spending taxpayer money on this $#I+. we should just wait till the blow up another embassy and further blame the White House for not doing anything. Then we can say that Obama told the IRS to give the CIA 2 billion for another failed operation. It doesn't matter if its true or not the media will just eat it up...

You know how Liberals make fun of George Bush for his "Mission Accomplished" statement awhile back. Pretty safe to say the rest of us non-Liberals should make sure they hear this one. "Al Qaeda is on the run" Bahahahaha.

This is actually more hilarious than scary. His instructions were to "do something." Sounds desperate and pathetic. And what exactly are they going to do from Yemen that anyone would even care about? Yemen is already a complete craphole. Would be hard for them to make it any worse. The last time some Yemeni terrorists tried sneaking in to Saudi Arabia they were all killed.

This is a m$assive cover up as laws are being passed and other issues its a cloud. As media and those that control the media have darken the minds of the majority only those with senses able to see what is the truth will sirvive and be ready for any event. All lies all perpitrated to detach us from the truth.

No it's not. It's called a slow news week. The media is not covering up anything for the government, they picked up the story because they have nothing else to report on that they feel people will be interested in. That doesn't mean that there aren't things the media should be reporting on, if they were concerned about reporting on what was relevant and didn't care about ratings or staying in business, but obviously that's not the way that the media works.

This is the the fruit of the new pro muslim american policy! There was a time when a real man sat in the white house with swagger and no fear of alquida or muslim threat. This wh and its occupant are a sad excuse for life, liberty and the American way! Its a trojan horse.

If Zawahiri had sent a message to his second in command in Yemen, they would have been droned immediately. Perhaps the Saudis will accommodate Obomber with a "real" attack somewhere to make believers out of the remaining herd of loyal sheeple.

I would increase retaliation against this trouble making groups any time they open their mouth to plan an attack through any communications channel. That would shut them up and thin them down. If they show they don't like it and want to act on it, increase attacks again. Only time operations should cease is when they decide to calm down and stop acting up.

Who cares if the world calls us the bad guys. It's not like they don't. Someone has to do it. Clean up the strays and force them to make new strays for a while. They will have to either run out of volunteers or people.

Al Queda has already stated & proved they will kill Americans at all cost. It follows the only way to defeat them is to apply the same method. Drones and cruise missiles are the safest way for Americans to achieve this. Let them loose.

I have yet to see anything other than pure speculation on behalf of the White House. So the leader of Al Qaeda told his right hand man to, "Do something!" So that means we should close all our embassies for 1 week because after that 1 week passes, their urge to "do something" will hopefully have been reduced or eliminated altogether. Just because the leader says to do something why does that automatically mean something is going to be done?

It just looks like pure stupidity to me. There's nothing fundamentally different about our standing in the world today than there was 2 weeks ago. Nothing has changed, why would our embassies be under any more threat today than they would have been 2 weeks ago??

And if they didn't close the embassies and something just happens to happen and more people end up being killed than there would be if they were to be closed. Would you be singing an entirely different tune to the chord of "why wasn't more done?" They can blow up a building but no one is gonna die if no one is in it.

For all the conspiracy theorists tonight: You find it plausible that the NSA / fed'ral gov'ment hatches a big propaganda campaign to to justify spying, but when it came time to actually write the part of the script where they detail the threat, they settle for "Do something?"

Similar question for those who think we are over-reacting: You think the intelligence apparatus that all day, every day, analyzes threats, monitors talks of jihad and hatred toward the west, goes into full blown defensive mode, working with State to shut down dozens of embassies issue a global travel alert, merely on "Do something?"

Suggestion for you – if it seems too ridiculous to be true on the surface, maybe it's worth a second thought...

When Republicans aren't whining... they are working so you can have a subsidized cell phone...paying for your food stamps through their taxes...and keeping the economy rolling why you sit around and believe this and unicorns.

I doubt it, Rex. Repub-voting states are consistently takers, while Dem-voting states consistently fund those takers. And while not a scientific poll, of the people who I know, the more educated, higher tax-bracketed folks who work the longest hours almost invariably associate with progressive views, while the Joe 6-packs who goofed off in school and are home by 5 each evening (if they have a job) tend to cast themselves as "conservatives." They also frequent blogs and gripe an awful lot. The Republican party has become the "woe's me" party.

August 5, 2013 at 11:44 pm |

Tom Duncan

Yes, we pay your bills. We work so you can collect your disability/unemployment/ welfare/food stamps. Any other questions?

You cannot connect dots as well as a three year old.
The only person in jail is the shlep that made the film which Obama and Hilly falsely claimed was responsible.
Now the CIA and State are intimidating witnesses.
This is Watergate with four dead bodies.
Obama, Hilly and Patreus should be on trial.

Come on jeb, stop drinking the coolaid....Nothing has been done...No one has paid for this crime and now as it turns out the whole thing was probably an illegal gun running operation by ob, holder, hillery and the whole administration. Doesnt this remind you of fast and furious? Its ok to be lib, just be a smart one. This is about America not party affiliation.

This entire scenario is fiction. It's all made up for the American audience for the purpose of making Americans citizens scared of their own shadows. If there was an actual Al Qaeda, they would be going after the politicians in Washington DC, both Democrats and Republicans who are behind the dismantling of the Middle East. As it is Al Qaeda is paid by the US to cause further destabilization of the Middle East. We come in with money from the global bankers and use our heavy hand to tap out their resources. Big corporations make huge profits and the same parties get funding for the next election. It's all corrupt and we keep electing the bad ones behind it all.

How is this news? Every day of the year, some fundamentalist cleric somewhere is encouraging his congregation to do something to the Great Satan. Every day of the year, Christians and Muslims alike do what they have been doing for generations - bringing the evildoers to justice in the name of God/Allah. Muslims call it jihad. Christians call it the War on Terror. Obama calls it Just War.

Black pres is not the problem. His inability to accomplish anything is the problem. Jobs are at 14%, Gas is at 3.89 per gallon, food is up by 20%, healthcare cost has rocketed, Death panels are being appointed, the Military is dwindled, housing is at an all time low, Joblessness for blacks is at an all time high, Scandels are errupting everywhere, the IRS is becomming a gostapo etc etc etc..Its ok to be liberal just wise up!

August 6, 2013 at 12:03 am |

Jonny Fontain

Why are you calling him a NiQGer? That's giving him way too much respect.

"Do Something"? That's it? That's what this is all about? Al Qaeda must be over there laughing there a**es off. They have us in fear and under their complete control now. Mark my words...NOTHING will happen.

Yeah, before the election, Al Qaida was "on the run" and coming apart, remember? No longer a threat. The ruse cost US lives, when politics came first and nothing high-profile could be done to reinforce Benghazi. The press, as tame, face-licking lapdogs they are when a Democrat's liabilities are concerned, looked the other way and helped Obama cover it all up (or so they thought). Such a pathetic pack of yellow-rag, partisan Democratic cheerleaders now, instead of a free press looking for the truth first. The press are the defenders of our liberties NO MORE. They needn't attempt to flatter themselves. They are a pathetic shell of the old profession of true journalism.

You complain about journalism yet you remain a fountain of mindless, Faux News sound-bites. You vomit the conspiracies and distortions of a news service that doesn't even pretend to be honest. Who's the fool here? So every news service on the planet is wrong – except FOX? Really?

You're either tremendously easy to brainwash or you purposefully pass along foolish, right-wing comments because of hatred for the President. Either way I suspect you'd be happier at a Klan Rally than in a war-fighting command TOC...

Like the path through 44MEDBDE/AMEDDC&S/USACHPPM/CENTCOM/SOCOM? Gotcha!

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CNN's Security Clearance examines national and global security, terrorism and intelligence, as well as the economic, military, political and diplomatic effects of it around the globe, with contributions from CNN's national security team in Washington and CNN journalists around the world.